Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu promised to charge Hamas “the total price” for what he called a “cruel and nasty violation” Gaza ceasefies The agreement after the Israeli terrorist group and appointed by the United States made the remains of a woman Gazan Instead of an Israeli mother Hosting with her two young children.
Israeli officials said Thursday evening that Hamas had given the body of an unidentified Gazan earlier in the day instead of the remains of Shiri Bibas as planned. In a transfer orchestrated under the ceasefire agreement which entered into force on January 19, Hamas was supposed to return the bodies of Bibas Thursday with its two sons killed, Ariel, 4, and Kfir, who only Nine months was the youngest was the youngest on the 251 Israelis seized during the terrorist attack on October 7, 2023.
The remains of the children were returned, with the body of Oded Lifshitz, who was 83 years old, but Netanyahu said that instead of remains of Shiri Bibas, Hamas “put the body of a Gazan woman in a coffin “.
“May the sacred memory of Oded Liffhitz and Ariel and Kfir Bibas be engraved forever at the heart of the nation,” he said. “May God avenging their blood. And we too.”
Hamas has claimed since November 2023 This Shiri Bibas, his children and his life were all killed in Israeli bombings in Gaza, as well as some activists who held them captive. Yarden Bibas, the father of the children, was not with his family on October 7, but was taken separately. He was Released earlier this month After 16 months in captivity.
Friday, in a statement, Hamas indicated that the transfer of a different body the day before could have been an error, claiming that there was a “possibility of error or overlapping in the bodies, which may have resulted of the occupying occupation and bombing the place where the family was. “
The press release indicates that Hamas would examine “these claims with a total seriousness, and we will clearly announce the results”, and he added that the group wanted to “confirm our seriousness and our total commitment to all our obligations, and we have proven it Through our behavior in the past few days. [to the ceasefire terms] Or keep all body with us. “”
Hamas has called Israel to return the remains of the unidentified Gazan on the decimated Palestinian territory.
The incident, as well as the previous transfresses of hostage which have experienced large crowds of well -armed terrorists in Hamas and civilians hurried around the Israelis released and, Thursday for example, a poster of massive propaganda behind the coffins holding the hostages Who represent Netanyahu as a bloody bloody vampire, pulled the fury of Israeli officials and the Trump administration.
Ali Jadallah / Anadolu / Getty
Transfers have also been more and more criticized by the international community – including by the Red Cross, which facilitated the physical transfer of hostages, both alive and dead, within Gaza. In a declaration of Friday in Reuters, the World Organization said that it was “concerned and dissatisfied” of the way in which the outings took place.
“The ICRC does not participate in sorting, screening or examining the deceased – this is the responsibility of the parties to the conflict,” said the International Committee of the Red Cross not carried out in a private and dignified manner.
The Secretary General of the United Nations António Guterres published a statement Condir “The parade of the bodies and the display of the coffins of Israeli hostages died by Hamas on Thursday. Under international law, any transfer of the remains of the deceased must comply with the prohibition of a cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, guaranteeing respect for the dignity of the deceased and their families.
Whatever the intentionality on the part of Hamas, this transfer of the bad body and the severe reaction of Israel to him left the ceasefire already fragile in an even more perilous position on Friday, just a week before the first six -week phase of the agreement set to finish. In total, 33 living Israeli hostages were to be delivered during the first phase under the terms of the agreement, the last six of which should be released on Saturday.
There was no immediate indication of Israel or Hamas that the schedule scheduled for Saturday, and the corresponding liberation of Israel of scores more Palestinian prisoners of its prisons, would not go.
Discussions to eliminate the terms of the second phase, which should start in early March, should have started a few weeks ago, but there was no indication of Israel, Hamas or the United States and its partners Regional Qatar and Egypt, who, who helped negotiate the ceasefire, of what progress may have been made or not.
Netanyahu was constantly under pressure from certain far-right members of his cabinet to end the ceasefire and resume Israel’s military operation in Gaza, and Netanyahu himself stressed that the objective of the War has always been to disarm, if not to destroy Hamas. With this objective, the Israeli government seems to have the support of the Trump administration.
In a interview On Thursday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio called Hamas, “evil and terrible people, and the idea that they would never be allowed to continue having arms and being militarized and controlling the territory, anywhere where in the world is unfathomable “.
“As long as Hamas is in Gaza, there will never be peace in Gaza,” he said, “because they are going to start attacking Israel, and Israel will have to answer.”
The families of the dozens of Israeli hostages which are still held in Gaza have been much less eager to see a resumption of fighting, however. In a statement quoted Friday by the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, Kibbutz Nir Oz, the community whose children of Bibas and their mother were kidnapped, said that he was held by the “clear demands of the Bibas family at that time: Liberation , not revenge “.
“The state must bring Shiri by all means, in a way that will not interfere with the continuation of the agreement and the immediate release of all hostages,” said the Kibbutz community.
“Hamas is a deadly organization that does not hesitate to kill infants and toddlers. Our expectations come from the Israeli government, whose actions must be immediate to release the 70 hostages from the hands of the murderers and put an end to the continuous failure. “
The removal and missing families forum, which represents families of all the Israelis caught in captivity during the terrorist attack on October 7, said in a separate declaration that it was “horrified and devastated by the new” that remains of Shiri Bibas had not returned.
Ilia Yefimovich / Picture Alliance / Getty
“In the world, we say: do not look away. Of this nightmare.
“Israel and the international community must remain firmly to ensure that the agreement is confirmed while acting with wisdom and emergency to fight against these blatant violations,” said the group. “Each step must be taken with a careful responsibility to secure the safe return of all hostages.”
The forum added a specific plea for President Trump, thanking him “for his unshakable support and his strong position in the fight against terrorism” and calling on the American chief “to continue to stand with us by demanding the immediate return of all hostages “.
The War of Israel at 15 months against Hamas has killed more than 48,000 people in Gaza, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health. About 1,200 Israelis were killed during the terrorist attack orchestrated in Hamas which sparked the war.
